SA Tourism and Moja partners to bring richer experiences for tourists

Moja Heritage Collection makes available the official listings for heritage and cultural products in South Africa and has for many years helped to highlight examples of the different heritage and cultural experiences one may have in South Africa.

South African Tourism (SAT), in partnership with the Moja aims to bring about richer heritage and cultural experiences often sought by both domestic and international tourists to better connect with the "real South Africa" and to unlock the economic potential of these products in line with the National Heritage and Cultural Tourism Strategy released by the National Department of Tourism in March 2012.

New products have been added

Tourists are looking for more people, community and authentic cuisine experiences. As such additional cultural products have been added to the Moja Heritage Collection, with activities such as cooking tours, dramatic arts and theatre workshops, tours of places like Sophiatown, Fordsburg and Chinatown in Johannesburg, farm stays in the Kalahari and Karoo, and numerous other living local experiences and tours.

"South Africa is renowned for its rich history, heritage and culture. Visitors come from all over to taste our food, interact with our people and experience the way of life of our many cultures. Although museums and heritage sites are in high demand, it is evident by the increase in requests and information for township tours, visits to cultural villages and inner city tours that tourists also want the opportunity to experience everyday life of South Africans. Taking this into account, our partnership with Moja Heritage Collection is apt as it shows the fusion of old and new culture. This will also be strongly driven through our marketing tactics," says Thulani Nzima, CEO at South African Tourism.

App is being developed

"We are pleased to partner with South African Tourism on this venture and look forward to building and creating greater awareness about our country and its rich cultural and heritage offering. As part of the joint marketing collaboration and to ensure heritage and cultural strategy objectives are reached, all the additional products, provided by SAT, will be uploaded on the Moja Heritage website and included in next year's Heritage Collection booklet. In addition, an iPad app to give full details about the experiences is being developed," says James Delaney of Moja Media.

The app feature will be made available in 2013. Tourists will be able to view the interactive version of cultural products online and offline thus creating a wider awareness of the exciting cultural experiences available in South Africa.